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Interactions between above- and belowground organisms modified in climate change experiments

Nature Climate Change volume 2, pages 805–808 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Climate change has been shown to affect ecosystem process rates1 and community composition2, with direct and indirect effects on belowground food webs3. In particular, altered rates of herbivory under future climate4 can be expected to influence above–belowground interactions5. Here, we use a multifactor, field-scale climate change experiment and independently manipulate atmospheric CO2 concentration, air and soil temperature and drought in all combinations since 2005. We show that changes in these factors modify the interaction between above- and belowground organisms. We use an insect herbivore to experimentally increase aboveground herbivory in grass phytometers exposed to all eight combinations of climate change factors for three years. Aboveground herbivory increased the abundance of belowground protozoans, microbial growth and microbial nitrogen availability. Increased CO2 modified these links through a reduction in herbivory and cascading effects through the soil food web. Interactions between CO2, drought and warming can affect belowground protozoan abundance. Our findings imply that climate change affects aboveground–belowground interactions through changes in nutrient availability.

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Figure 1: Effects of increased CO2 and herbivory on plant aboveground biomass.
Figure 2: Effects of aboveground herbivory and increased CO2 on belowground microbial biomass.
Figure 3: Limitation of microbial growth.
Figure 4: Effects of increased CO2 on above–belowground interactions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation (through the CLIMAITE project), Air Liquide and Dansk Olie og Naturgas energy for technical support. C.S. and D.G. were supported by the infrastructure ‘Increase’, financially supported by the European Union.

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Author notes

  1. David J. Gladbach

    Present address: Present address: tier3 solutions GmbH, Am Wallgraben 1, D-42799 Leichlingen, Germany,

  2. Karen Stevnbak and Christoph Scherber: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Copenhagen University, Biological Institute, Section Terrestrial Ecology, Ø. Farimagsgade 2D, DK-1353 København Ø, Denmark

    Karen Stevnbak & Søren Christensen

  2. Department of Crop Science, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Agroecology, Grisebachstrasse 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany

    Christoph Scherber & David J. Gladbach

  3. Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

    Claus Beier & Teis N. Mikkelsen

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  1. Karen Stevnbak
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Contributions

K.S. and C.S. contributed equally to this manuscript. C.S., S.C. and C.B wrote the manuscript. K.S. and S.C. planned and initiated the study. K.S., D.G., C.S. and S.C. collected the data and had initial discussions of their implication. C.S. and S.C. carried out all statistical analyses. T.N.M. was in charge of the field study. All authors discussed the analysis and results and commented on the manuscript text.

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Correspondence to Christoph Scherber or David J. Gladbach.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Stevnbak, K., Scherber, C., Gladbach, D. et al. Interactions between above- and belowground organisms modified in climate change experiments. Nature Clim Change 2, 805–808 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1544

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